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to slaughter

to slaughter

60 3.9
To kill animals for food in large numbers
  • verb
  • /ˈslɔːtər/
translation icon : sacrificar
  • Dairy cows are are slaughtered at three to four years old.
  • slaughter animals
  • slaughter cattle
  • slaughter livestock

If you want a stake, you don't need to raise an entire cow and then slaughter the cow, you just grow a stake.

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Examples

  • At the wedding feast, two water buffalo, part of the bridewealth, are slaughtered for the guests.

    Academic text (1993)
  • Instead, the most effective response was to slaughter infected animals to break the transmission chain.

    Academic text (2013)
  • So she created a, a way, one of the worst things is the whole process of how we slaughter animals.

  • So we were slaughtering these beautiful huge animals in order to light our rooms and power our machines.

  • She said the farmer might possibly still slaughter the pig.

  • We sent a few sheep ahead to be slaughtered for the communal meal.

    Academic text (1990)
  • All the calves were slaughtered at the age of 8 months.

    Academic text (2014)
  • We fatten 'em up and put 'em right back on the street where they get slaughtered.

  • Pa says we all got to help slaughter them hogs in the mornin'.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • Farmers often slaughter their livestock to provide meat for the market.

Synonyms

to butcher
vsto slaughter
22 1.8

To kill animals for meat

is for killing many animals in a controlled, collective process rather than single acts
to dispatch
vsto slaughter
  • Offensive
13 7.7

To kill a person or animal quickly on purpose

is for killing animals typically in large numbers and in an organized way
to dress out
vsto slaughter
  • NSFW
1 8.7

Remove the insides and clean an animal so you can eat it

focuses on killing animals often in large numbers rather than on later preparation

Antonyms

1.0

To keep someone or something safe from harm

77 3.5

Decide not to hurt someone even though you could

How Extensive

to slaughter
60 3.9
to butcher
22 1.8
to kill
  • NSFW
1.0
to cull
  • Specialized
9 7.0

Surface Forms

slaughter infinitive
slaughtered past participle
slaughtering present participle
slaughters third person singular

Etymology

Slaughter as a verb is the action form of the old root behind slay, 'to kill'. It means to kill animals, usually in large numbers and often to prepare them for food.